


The DJ and The Diva

by charcolor



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: 30 Day OTP Challenge, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Double Dating, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rescue, Spooning, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-04-05 19:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 16,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19046839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charcolor/pseuds/charcolor
Summary: A 30 day writing challenge centered around Flower and Maika's romance.





	1. Meeting

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Honey and Carrots](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14820917) by [Vanilla_Owns_Chocolate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanilla_Owns_Chocolate/pseuds/Vanilla_Owns_Chocolate). 



> prompts taken from: https://otp-imagines-cult.tumblr.com/post/133309701572/30daychallenge1
> 
> i want to thank my lovely ava (Vanilla_Owns_Chocolate) for writing her own 30 day challenge last year. it not only gave me something to make every day of june brighter, but it's also how i met her and found my soulmate in her. please read her stories if you have the chance. i love her very much and i hope these stories make her as happy as her stories make me.

Maika's agent had told her that someone new was on the DJ scene in Japan, where she was currently touring, and while she was in the country, this DJ would be working with her and helping provide special effects and masterful mixing to Maika's performances.

Although, Maika wasn't really sure whether or not mixing could really work for live performances. She wasn't a lip-syncher. That would take all the fun out of performing! She liked to sing in front of her adoring fans! (It sounds conceited, but it makes her feel good, so let it be.)

Today, she was meeting them: vflower. She was standing outside the apartment door right now. Maika quickly looked over herself to double-check if she was presentable, then knocked three times.

"Come in," called a strong, yet reserved voice.

Maika opened the door gently, and her sight was immediately focused on the girl sitting on a recliner chair, typing rapidly on her laptop. She didn't look back at Maika, but her narrow violet eyes were still visible, though almost hidden by the wisps of hair, the color of pale lilacs with a single streak of raven fallen against one of her rounded cheeks. She was wearing what was presumably her usual type of loungewear, a pair of dark gray sweatpants and a tight black undershirt.

"E-eh..." Maika fidgeted with one of her pink curls. She could feel her cheeks blushing the same color in this incredibly cool girl's presence. "Are you...vflower...?"

"Yeah," the girl said. "But just call me Flower. That's my real name."

 _A first-name basis already?_ Maika grabbed the doorknob behind her to keep from collapsing in shock and awe. "I, eh...I'm Maika!" she cried. "My name's Maika!"

"Cool." Flower finally turned her head to give Maika a kind smile. "So, do you, um...do you want some tea or anything?"

"Sure!" Maika shouted.

Somehow, they were both totally oblivious that Maika had already fallen deep in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (clarification: flower has her v3 appearance here. she didn't get a haircut until later after she and maika met)


	2. Realization

"I don't know  _why_ she makes me nervous!" Maika was pacing back and forth in Luka's bedroom while the latter was casually sitting in a beanbag chair and typing on her phone. "She's not intimidating or anything! She's just so  _cool!_ She has really beautiful hair, it looks like it's made of like...angel feathers! It's so soft and beautiful! And she has the cutest face, all round, her cheeks are so cute! Especially when they kinda blush a little!" Maika sighed dreamily as she paused to play with her hair. "And she has such good fashion sense, she likes kinda punkish clothes? And she puts together the  _coolest_ outfits! And even when she's in her pajamas or something she looks so  _soft_ and huggable! And her voice is so good, I love her voice, it's so cool and calm and kinda husky but when she sings it gets so powerful and perfect and  _everything!_ And her eyes are so so  _so_ pretty, I could probably get lost in them all day, they're like the sky is right after the sunset where there's no clouds and lots of stars..."

Luka looked up from her phone for a very brief moment. "You have a crush on her."

 _"Qué!?"_ Maika whirled around to face Luka. "What makes you say--" She paused, the lightbulb seeming to go off behind her widening pink eyes. "Ohhhh..."

* * *

"Hey, Flower! Flower! Flower, can I ask you something?"

Flower looked down at the pink-haired child tugging eagerly at her vest.

"Flower," Hime asked with a grin, "do you... _like-like_ anyone?"

Flower thought about it for a moment, then nodded to confirm it silently to herself. "I'm in love with Maika."

"Wowie!" Hime gasped, then clapped their hands excitedly as they ran off. "Mikoto!" they called. "Mikoto, you're not gonna believe this!"


	3. The Reveal

Maika was going to confess today. She was absolutely, definitely, one hundred percent confessing her crush on Flower. It had already been six months. That was enough time, wasn't it? She wasn't moving too fast. This was good timing. Definitely.

And she had already come into Flower's home and sat on her couch beside her, she was already fidgeting with her hands in her lap. There wasn't any reason to wait.

"Is something up?" Flower asked patiently.

Maika nodded and swallowed her worries. "I...Flower, I really..." It certainly didn't help that she was clamming up. "I think you're, like...well, eh, I think you're really...really, eh, really cool, and, and you're, you're really a-amazing...?"

She didn't get much further than that before clutching her stomach and being deafened by her own rapid heartbeat.

"I-I-I know it's not...it's weird, maybe, to...to..."

Her stomach was twisting and Maika was silently begging herself to not vomit, not faint, don't mess this up, this meant everything, this was everything--

"Slow down, Maika." A breezy whisper reached her, and serene, icy hands grasped her own. "Just stop talking for a second."

"No--" Maika forced out through her dry throat, subconsciously squirming a little. "This is important, this is important--"

"I know. I know. I love you."

And then Maika grew frigid just as a soft, sweet kiss was planted on her face.

"You..."

It was a barely audible, unfinished thought. After some indecipherable whirl of static commotion, Maika found herself somewhere different, on her back, her legs propped up with mismatched throw pillows.

This was Flower's bedroom. She'd been in here before plenty of times to play video games with her. How would she have gotten here? She didn't remember going here and lying down. For that matter, she didn't remember the last few moments. It was scary. The scarier thing was that Maika was alone.

She tried to call Flower's name, but her throat was too hoarse for her voice to possibly be heard from any more than a few feet away. Coincidentally, that happened to apparently be the distance between her and Flower at that moment. Almost immediately, the door pushed open gently and Flower paced over with a misty glass.

"I got you water," she said softly. "With ice. I'll help you drink it."

Maika didn't know what else to do but nod as Flower pressed the edge of the glass to her lips and let the icy stream slowly pour through. Maika could only blink and stare into Flower's violet eyes as she swallowed. Up close, Maika could see genuine concern glimmering in the deep pools. That, combined with the fact that she was so close to Flower's face in the first place, was enough to make Maika blush.

Flower pulled the glass away tentatively, probably so Maika could have time to breathe. "Are you heating up again?" she asked. "I thought you had a fever after you fainted, but it--"

Maika almost spit out the water she still had in her mouth, but she managed to swallow first before reacting.  _"Fainted?_ I fainted?" She clenched the blanket underneath her with shaky fingers. That was so embarrassing,  _humiliating,_ to faint in front of Flower. "I'm sorry, I-I..."

"Be quiet." Flower smiled as she said it, maybe as a reassurance that she wasn't upset. "I don't want you to have another anxiety attack. I love you."

There it was. Maika's hands released their grip on the bed to fly to her mouth.  _I love you? Is this a fever dream? Or just a dream?_

"I love you too." Maika closed her eyes and turned over on her side as she said it, trying not to think too hard about her heart speeding up again. "That's...what I was trying to say before...before I fainted."

"Was it?" Maika felt Flower's slender fingers stroke her hair. "I thought you felt that way. I forgot that you never actually said it. I just assumed you were my girlfriend already."

Maika blinked her eyes back open to gaze up at Flower. Her face was gentle, but serious, as she stroked Maika's hair. She meant what she said. She was telling the truth.

It was reciprocated.

"I-is it okay...?" Maika murmured. "To be girlfriends?"

"Of course it is. I would've told you already if it wasn't." Flower left another kiss on her cheek. "And I already did tell you...I love you."

"I love you too."

Flower lay down beside her, and they stayed like that for a while, leaving Maika to soak in the surreal reality that Flower reciprocated her love.


	4. First Date

Maika had spent an entire week doing nothing but thinking about her first date. Well, she still had to do shows, of course. Performing was actually very useful in distracting her from worrying too much about her relationship with Flower. But when she got home, it always came back.

Eventually, she decided to just have Flower come over her house so they could talk about it.

"I'm sorry," said Maika. "I can't think of the perfect first date for us."

Flower was sitting with her head on Maika's shoulder. "Why does it have to be perfect?" she asked.

"I don't mean it that way." Maika grasped Flower's hand. "If this is the best date ever, all our other dates are gonna be worse than our first date, and that's no fun. I mean...should we go to an ice cream shop? Or is that not big enough?"

"We could just stay here," Flower suggested. "I can spend the night. And that could be our first date."

"Really? Don't you have little siblings?"

"Hime and Mikoto are old enough to stay home alone."

"But what about overnight?"

Flower nodded with a hum of thought. "Xin Hua could watch them. She's done it before."

"Can she babysit overnight?"

"Yeah. She's on summer break right now." Flower pulled her phone out of the pocket of her shorts and woke it up. "I'll call her now to see if she can do it."

"Are you sure that's okay?" Maika asked, clinging to Flower's thin arm. "I don't want it to be too lame for a date."

"It shouldn't be. I'm already with you. That makes it a good date."

After Maika hid her furiously blushing face in her hands for five minutes while Flower talked to Xin Hua on the phone, they decided to have a movie night. "I have all kinds of microwave popcorn!" Maika bragged. "Do you like caramel popcorn?"

"No," Flower replied, "I don't like the taste of caramel too much. And it's sticky. I'll just have popcorn with butter on it."

Maika giggled. "More for me, then!"

When the popcorn was ready, Maika realized she didn't actually know what types of movies Flower liked.

"Horror," Flower answered, which wasn't the biggest surprise. "But I like cartoon movies, too."

Maika tapped her cheek in thought. "Hmm...have you ever seen Coraline?"

"No." Flower was preparing to pop a piece of popcorn in her mouth. "Isn't that movie in English? I don't know if I could understand the whole thing without subtitles."

"My copy has subtitles, I think!" Maika smiled as she rummaged through her DVD cases. "I really want to show you Coraline now! It's such an amazing movie! It's so great! I think you'll really, really like it, too!"

Maika usually watched the movie in Spanish, but Flower didn't know Spanish at all, so she switched the audio to English to make things a little easier. She was fluent enough in English to understand the movie, anyway. And since she was fluent in Japanese as well, she could tell Flower if any of the subtitles were misleading.

It was perfect! Maika got to work pulling out dining chairs to set up a blanket fort. Flower lay down a ring of pillows as Maika draped blankets over the chairs. She also took a blanket to inside the fort itself, so that she could snuggle under it with Flower as they ate popcorn.

Being this close to Flower and watching her react to seeing one of Maika's favorite movies for the first time in such a comfortable and fun setting was a little bit of a red flag. If  _this_ date was perfect, Maika worried that none of their other dates would be able to live up to it. Would she have to sabotage this?

No, Maika decided. She smiled as she quickly glanced at Flower, munching on a handful of popcorn with wide, awestruck eyes. All this just meant that being with Flower would let Maika experience things that were even better than perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i make a lot of jokes about how wakko's wish is the best movie of all time but my favorite movie is actually coraline. wakko's wish and my little pony: the movie (2017) are tied for second


	5. Reminder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's short because ??????

"Who's that?"

Gumi pointed over Flower's shoulder as the latter sifted through her wallet. The wallet had a nice little place to display a photo, which had been empty until very recently.

"That's my girlfriend," Flower said with a small smile.

"Maika?" Gumi asked. She smiled as well and tilted her head to get a better look. "She's cute."

"I know. I wouldn't be dating her if she wasn't."

"Wait, is there an arm around her?" Gumi pointed again. "Who's that?"

"Me." Flower found what she was looking for (exactly seven hundred and fifty-two yen) and closed up her wallet. "That's actually a picture we took of us together. I cut it in half, so I'm cut out of it. Maika has the other half in her wallet." She opened the wallet again just for a second. "She always makes me happy. It's incredible. Even just thinking of her makes my day so much better. And it helps even more when I see that picture of her. Kind of like a reminder that she's real and she loves me."

Someone in front of them cleared her throat. "I'm really glad you're in a happy relationship, but I'm really gonna need you to pay for your food. There's a line behind you."

"Sorry," Flower apologized without changing her tone at all as Gumi averted her eyes and fidgeted sheepishly with her sleeves. She handed over the money, picked up the food tray, and promptly left with Gumi, ignoring the glares from all the impatient customers that had been watching Flower gush about Maika.


	6. New to the Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of parent death + implications of child neglect

"It's Maika!"

Maika yelped in surprise as a tiny child with pink hair sped over and tightly hugged her waist. Flower quickly followed, and crossed her arms with an amused smile. Behind her was another child with light blue hair, looking away from Maika.

"How do you know me?" Maika asked.

"'Cause Flower told us you were coming!" the pink-haired child laughed. She released Maika and stuck out her hand. "I'm Hime!" Before Maika could actually shake her hand, Hime pointed it toward the blue-haired child. "And that's Mikoto! They're my twin!"

Flower nodded and gently patted Hime's head. "These are my little siblings," she said to Maika.

Maika nodded. Hime and Mikoto both had black streaks in their hair just like Flower. It obviously wasn't genetic, so maybe it just came out of admiring Flower. Maika smiled at that thought.

"Well, I'm Flower's girlfriend!" Maika announced.

"We know!" Hime hugged her again. "I was telling Flower to start dating you for, like, a million years!" Hime turned to Flower and clapped. "We can play Mario Kart now! Please?"

"Just a second." Flower stepped forward to take Maika's hand. "I'm gonna talk to her for a sec."

"Okay!" Hime grinned. "But this means I get to be player one?"

Mikoto narrowed their eyes. "Why do _you_ get to be player one?"

"You were player one _last_ time, Mikoto!"

"So?"

"It's _my_ turn!"

Maika was whisked away from the bickering children and taken to the familiar and quiet setting of Flower's bedroom.

"I know you're probably gonna ask at some point," said Flower, "so I wanted to tell you now. Hime and Mikoto aren't actually my siblings. I mean, not biologically."

"They're adopted?" It made sense to Maika. They didn't have similar names to Flower, so they were probably born with those names and adopted afterward. "Do they know that?"

"Of course they know that. I'm the one who adopted them."

But...wouldn't that make Flower their parent? Why would Flower decide to have children at her age? She was only nineteen, like Maika. Flower wasn't the type to rush things like that.

"Yeah," said Flower, probably sensing the utter confusion she'd just unleashed. "That makes me their legal guardian, I think. But I don't feel like a mom. It's easier to be a sister."

"How did you meet them?" Maika asked. "Or did you just decide to go to the adoption agency for new siblings or something...?"

"No." Flower played with Maika's hair as she talked. "I met them once in a hospital and they became friends with me. They told me their parents died in an accident."

"Oh..." Maika murmured. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry. I'm the one who decided to tell you this. Anyway, I adopted them once I had an actual house so that they didn't have to live in an orphanage." Flower smiled. "They're really good kids. I love being their sister."

"And I love _you!"_ Maika wasn't surprised at Flower's generosity, but she was still full of awe and full of love. She pulled Flower into a tight embrace, but then let go when another question popped into mind. "Do your parents consider them to be--"

"I don't think my parents know." Flower shrugged and started playing with Maika's hair again. "They don't really talk to me. And I don't really talk to them. Hime and Mikoto don't mind. I don't think they'd want their real parents replaced, anyway." 

It occured to Maika that they'd never really discussed their relationships with their parents.

"I don't talk to my parents that much either," she confessed. "I mean, they still live in Spain, but I don't really call super often. Usually just when it's, like...their birthdays." She sighed and pulled Flower into a hug again. "I don't think they'd care that I have a girlfriend now. I think they've always just wanted to use me for how popular I was and how much money I made from performing."

Flower nodded. "I'll beat them up."

"No!" Maika cried. "I love my parents! But, well..."

Did she really love her parents?

"I don't know," she said softly, defeated.

"It's fine. It's complicated. You don't have to talk about it now if you don't want to." Flower kissed her nose. "I just wanted to make my family situation clear."

"Okay!" Maika returned the nose kiss. "Can we go play Mario Kart now?"

"Yeah."

Maika clapped and leaped off the bed to hurry back to the twins. "I wanna be Yoshi!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i write hime as using she/they and mikoto as using he/she/they pronouns, but i try to always use they/them for both for consistency, just to clear that up


	7. Laughter

Flower loved the sound of Maika's laughter.

Maika laughed all the time. She was always giggling whenever she was happy, which was most of the time. It was so wholehearted and melodic, it never failed to make Flower smile.

That was why making Maika laugh was one of her favorite things to do. Flower didn't think she was very good at telling jokes, though. She opted for telling stories of the antics of her little siblings.

"They're really funny," she was telling Maika while spooning her on the couch (Maika was half a foot taller than her, so it surprised Flower how comfortable it was to be practically underneath her). "I overheard them arguing the other day about whether or not Peach was a good character to play as in Smash, or something. I think Mikoto said something about strategy, I wouldn't know because I don't know anything about strategy in that game. I remember Hime said, 'Only fools live in logic.'"

Maika snorted as she laughed sweetly and lifted a hand to her mouth. "What does  _that_ mean? What does that have to do with Smash Brothers?"

"I think Hime was just trying to give words of wisdom." Flower smiled as she paused to kiss Maika's neck. "But they're twelve. Twelve year olds aren't known for being philosophers."

As Maika kept giggling, she said, "I love you!" She sat up and turned around so that she was facing Flower. "Don't make me laugh so hard when you're spooning me!"

"I can't help it," Flower explained. "Your laughter is perfect."

"Well..." Maika wiggled her fingers, still giggling. "You'll pay for this!"

Flower didn't know if she'd ever told Maika that she was very ticklish, but either way, Maika was about to know. She was self-conscious about her own laughter, but she couldn't restrain it when Maika's fingers, like feathers, brushed across and around her exposed stomach. Maika laughed more, full of glee and love, and therefore Flower's own laughter became more wholehearted, fueled by her own happiness and love for Maika.

Maika stopped tickling and collapsed onto Flower,  before lifting herself very briefly to kiss her cheek. "I love you!" she breathed.

Flower was smiling as she said, "I love you, too," before pressing her lips into Maika's shoulder.


	8. First Kiss

"You know," Flower noticed, "we haven't kissed on the lips yet."

They'd only been dating for a week. It had been long enough for Flower to be quietly spooning Maika on her bed at night while she typed away on her laptop without any trace of discomfort. But when Flower pointed this out, she felt Maika stiffen, and she glimpsed redness creeping into her cheeks.

"We don't have to if you don't want to," she tried to reassure her.

"I do!" Maika insisted. She closed her laptop and gently pushed it aside. "I do want to! I just..." She paused to yawn, an adorable squeak as she stretched out her arms. "I don't know the best time to have a first kiss. I've never dated anyone before."

"Really?" Flower was surprised. "No one else has dated you? You're a real bombshell, you know."

"Bombshell...?" Maika twirled one of her pink curls sheepishly. "Is that an English word? I don't know it."

"It means you're sexy."

That reddened Maika's face even more, and she twisted around to bury her face into Flower's chest. Flower could feel her rapid pulse.

"I didn't mean to make you nervous." Flower ran her fingers through the dove white hair. "I love you."

"I..."

Maika lifted her head and, with no warning, pressed her lips passionately into Flower's.

With that, Flower could feel everything about Maika. Even when she let her eyelids flutter down, she knew Maika was still blushing furiously. She almost thought she felt the flustered heat radiating from her, a faintest tickle of sweat brushing against her cheek. The pounding of her heart was quicker, her whole body was softly quaking.

The only thing Flower knew she could do was welcome all of it. Her hand wandered to Maika's neck, her thumb gently stroking against her cheek. Her other hand held Maika's body against hers, hopefully telling her that she was wanted, she was precious.

Flower felt Maika pull away slowly, and she let out a breezy exhale through her parted lips.

"Thank you," Flower whispered.

Maika only stared at her, with wide pink eyes, blinking slowly. After a few seconds, Flower noticed that she seemed to be swaying ever so slightly, like if she were standing up and losing her balance. Without thinking, Flower pulled her close again and wrapped her arms protectively around her body.

"I'm sorry," Maika murmured. "I should've asked."

"I would have told you to stop if I didn't like it," Flower pointed out. "And I did. I love you."

"I...I love you, too..." Maika happily murmured as she snuggled into Flower.  _"Te amo..."_

Flower felt her smile peek through her face as Maika softly murmured sweet things in her ear. Gradually, they grew more and more muffled with drowsiness, and less understandable. Flower assumed that some of what she was saying was Spanish, or maybe Portuguese. She didn't understand what all of it meant, but she really did not need to. She knew for certain that it was full of pure, passionate love.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if only i could kiss a girl so that i could write kiss scenes better........... *winks at ava*


	9. Thirdwheeling

"Are you sure it's okay for me to go with you?" Gumi asked as she and Maika sat beside each other on the bus. It was pretty empty today, so they didn't need to cling to those poles. "I don't want to be a third wheel and make things awkward."

Maika ruffled Gumi's emerald green hair. "Maybe you're a third wheel, but that just makes us a tricycle! It'll be different, but it'll still be fun!"

They weren't really doing anything too special. It was lunch at a casual restaurant, and they'd go get ice cream together afterward. It was enough to Maika, because she'd be spending time with two of her favorite people.

Flower was already waiting for them when they arrived. She waved and beckoned for Gumi and Maika to follow. "I already got us a table," she said.

"Oh, no!" Gumi nudged her glasses with tight eyebrows. "Did we take too long?"

"No. I've only been waiting a few minutes."

They sat down, and it was normal. Maika had worried that being romantic with Flower would make Gumi feel left out, but on the contrary, Gumi seemed to sincerely smile whenever they flirted with each other.

"I just realized," Flower said, gesturing to Gumi across the table, "this was the first restaurant you and I went to when we were dating."

 _Dating!?_ Maika was too stunned to hear Gumi's response. Did she really mean it? Gumi used to be Flower's girlfriend? Gumi and Flower were exes? And Maika had invited Flower's ex to join them on a fun lunch date?

"Maika?" She felt a tug on her shirt. Flower was gazing up at her and speaking softly. "You're not jealous or anything, are you?"

"No!" Maika quickly denied. She really wasn't jealous, she was just startled. "I-I just didn't know that...I didn't mean to make your ex uncomfortable or anything!"

"Oh, I'm not uncomfortable." Gumi was blushing very slightly, but she smiled. "It wasn't a big deal. We only dated for about a month and then decided we'd rather be friends. I have a girlfriend, now, too, so I know I'm actually in love now and not just...desperate for romance, you know?"

Flower nodded. "We were never really in love with each other. We were just good friends who were lonely and we thought that meant we had to date."

Maika grasped Flower's hand. "So...it's okay that you're with us...?

"Of course!" Gumi adjusted her glasses as if asserting her genuinity. "I'm not in love with Flower, but I still care about her a lot, and it's really nice to see her in an actual relationship."

"Same here," said Flower, pausing to kiss Maika's cheek. "I haven't met your girlfriend, though. I'd like to."

"Oh!" Maika exclaimed. "We could have a double date! Twice the romance and twice the fun!"

Gumi smiled. "That sounds fun! And I know you really well, so it shouldn't be too uncomfortable. And you'll get to meet Lily!"

"Yay!" Maika clapped. "If she makes you happy, then she must be amazing!"

"She is! I love her!"

The waitress soon arrived with their meals. As she ate, Maika wondered if maybe the food would taste different for Flower than it did when she was dating Gumi. It was a stupid thing to wonder, so she didn't ask. Besides, she already knew for a fact that she and Flower belonged together, and she had a feeling that Gumi and Lily belonged together, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if this is lackluster i've been having Sad Days


	10. Flustered

"Maika, you're perfect."

"I'm  _not!"_ Maika exclaimed, reaching for the nearest throw pillow to cover her blushing face. "Y- _you're_ perfect!"

Flower slowly and gently placed her hands over Maika's warm ones.

"Flower!" Hime piped up from the other side of the living room. "You're gonna embarrass her!"

Mikoto sighed. "It's not _her_ fault if Maika is so easily flustered."

Maika lowered the pillow to glance over at the twins. "Yeah, it is! She's too nice to me!"

"I don't think I'm being nice," said Flower. "I'm only telling you the truth."

 _"No!"_ Maika meekly protested, hiding her face again. Flower crawled closer to her side of the couch to wrap her arms around her, which prompted her to let out a muffled squeal.

"It's true if you think about it," Flower told her. "You're so happy and beautiful and kind and talented...it could go on forever. I think I'm really lucky that you love me."

"Really...?"

"Really." Flower pulled away to lower the throw pillow, lift up Maika's angelic face, and say "I love you" before kissing her glossy pink lips.

"Ahh...!"

Maika's eyes fluttered shut, and she fell with a shuddered breath against Flower.

Mikoto sighed and shook their head in disapproval, despite their amused smile. "Is she going to faint like that all the time? This is, like, the second time this month."

"It's not her fault," said Flower, stroking Maika's hair. "I think she's not used to hearing about how perfect she is."

Hime gasped. "Well, she  _should_ be! We gotta make sure you tell her every day!"

Flower smiled again. "It's okay. I already do."


	11. Rest

Maika and Flower had gone to bed together. They'd laid on their sides, facing each other and seeing each other's sleepy eyes glimmer through the dark, whispering sweet things as they gradually drifted off to peaceful sleep.

Maika had no clue how much time had passed when she was abruptly awoken by a jab in her side.

It took a few moments to register that it was still nighttime, and Maika was now awake in bed. Immediately after this, the movement beside her caught her attention. It was Flower, and it was obvious that she was having a nightmare.

She squirmed and thrashed, she let out shuddered breaths that were almost sobs, she mumbled incoherent whispers, occasionally murmuring, "Stop it, stop it..."

Maika had heard that it actually wasn't a good idea to wake someone up from a nightmare. But Flower's side of the bed was by the nightstand with a lamp on top. If Flower's thrashing threw her off the side of the bed, she could knock the lamp over and end up getting seriously hurt.

Besides, Maika couldn't bear seeing her beloved so terrified.

"Flower," she called softly. She wanted to hold her, but she knew better than to touch her during a nightmare. "Flower, can you hear me? I love you. No one can hurt you right now. I love you more than anything."

She kept speaking, wondering if this was enough, if the nightmare was too deafening for this to be of any use. A surge of relief was sent through her when Flower's eyes opened wide, and Maika waited.

"Flower?" she called again, a little shakily.

Flower was still shaking, too, but she managed to reach for Maika's arm and cling to it. She didn't say anything, but Maika had a feeling she knew what she'd been dreaming about.

"Can I kiss you?" Maika asked tentatively.

Flower nodded, and so Maika tilted her chin up to kiss her lips, then stroked her fluffy white hair.

"They can't hurt you now," she reminded her. "They can never hurt you again."

"I know. It's just hard to remember, sometimes."

Maika didn't think she was very good at comforting. She wasn't experienced when it came to grounding or anything like that. All she knew how to do was try to make Flower happy. She didn't know how to do that by reassuring her or giving advice.

"Can I tell you some dumb jokes?" she offered quietly. "They have to be in English because I don't think they'd work in Japanese."

Flower nodded again with a very faint smile. She wasn't as fluent in English as Maika, but she knew enough to understand dumb jokes.

"Okay...why did the cookie go to the doctor?" Maika paused. "He was feeling crummy."

It took Flower a second to register, but she smiled and sighed happily and snuggled tightly into Maika's body. Maika smiled, too, and continued.

"Why are seagulls called seagulls? ...If they loved near the bay, they'd be bagels."

"What is a robot's favorite snack? ...Computer chips."

She kept telling as many dumb English jokes as she could think of, until she noticed Flower had peacefully drifted off back to sleep, her arms still loosely around Maika's.

Maika lay back down, careful not to disrupt. "I can't make a joke about how much I love you," she sighed quietly in defeat, before closing her eyes to spend the rest of the night dozing beside her favorite person in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i stole those jokes from a website bc i'm not good at coming up with them


	12. Shopping

Maika, being born in Brazil and raised in Spain, tended to stand out in public now that she lived in Japan. The fact that she was famous certainly didn't help, but even with her instantly recognizable curls tied up and tucked away in a hood, she was still at least a couple of inches taller than most people she encountered, which made people give her at least an interested glance.

She'd always gone shopping alone because she knew Flower liked seclusion, and it was public knowledge that they were dating, so there was a risk of Flower being hounded by fans. But today, Flower wanted to come along when shopping for groceries.

Flower was also wearing a hoodie. Even though she tended to cover herself at her shows, people still knew at least her hairstyle. Even if they didn't, short white hair on young women stuck out in places like this. It honestly made Maika a little sad to not be able to plant her lips in the fluffy hair, but Flower's comfort took priority, and they could always kiss each other when they got home.

"Do we need to pick up any sorta equipment?" Maika asked quietly as Flower placed a couple cartons of milk in the cart. "For your DJing?"

"No," Flower answered, also quietly. "Do you?"

"Nope!" Maika glanced over their cart. They'd collected milk, cheese, beef, their usual selection of produce, sushi, bread, snacks... "Do we need natto?"

"Shit, yeah. I almost forgot about natto." Flower walked alongside her as they headed toward the soy bean section.

"Do they just have regular soybeans here?" Maika asked. "I wanna try making my own natto."

"That'd be cool." Flower smiled. "You can make a lot of things with beans. And soy milk. We could get soy milk, too."

"That's a great idea! You're so smart, Flower!"

Maika kissed her cheek, but quickly regretted it when her movements caused her own hood to fall. The aisle was crowded, her hair was out, she'd just called Flower by her name...

"It's Maika! Look, it's Maika!"

Flower threw as many soybean products into the cart as she could and they raced toward the checkout section as Maika hastily pulled her hood back up and briefly glanced behind her at the bystanders chasing them and shouting for her attention.

"We'll get the beans next time," she muttered. "Maybe tomorrow."

They had to stop once they reached checkout, and wait for the slightly concerned cashier to scan all their items.

Flower turned to whisper, "Does this happen every time you get groceries?"

"No," Maika whispered back. "Only about once a month."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S MY SIX MONTH ANNIVERSARY WITH AVA TODAY!!!!!!!! I LOVE HER SO MUCH PLEASE READ HER STORIES SHE IS VERY VERY TALENTED I LOVE HER


	13. Our Song

"Hey, Maika." Flower opened her eyes to look at Maika. They'd only just gotten into bed, so Maika was still awake. "Our anniversary's soon."

"I know!" Maika wiggled her body and smiled. "I made sure not to schedule any shows for next week. I wanna be with you!"

"Me too." Flower gently laced her fingers through Maika's. "Do you want to make a song together? We haven't done that in a while. And I like singing with you."

Maika squealed and bunched up her shoulders. "I like singing with you, too! I love you!"

For the next week leading up to their one year anniversary, they worked hard together. Maika's strength was writing and composing lyrics, and Flower's was composing the instrumentation and melody. Of course, Flower welcomed Maika's input and feedback on the instrumentation, and Maika welcomed Flower's input and feedback on the lyrics.

The song was a little more pop than Flower was used to making, but she didn't mind at all. It was fun to experiment, and Maika liked how it sounded.

"I like these lyrics a lot," Flower told her. "There's...a lot of flower talk in it."

"Well, duh! I love flowers!" Maika giggled and kissed Flower's cheek. "And you're my favorite flower!"

Once everything was set, Maika and Flower went out to the city square and set up their microphones and speakers and everything.

"Are you sure?" Maika asked, fidgeting nervously with her hair. "You're okay with performing publicly?"

Flower nodded. "I'm with you, so it's okay."

And following that, they danced around each other as they sung of how much they treasured each other to the world.


	14. Stargazing

There weren't really a lot of places in the area to stargaze, but Maika insisted it was a mandatory romantic date. Flower didn't mind complying. They simply lay on the grass outside their house and talked.

"Do you know any constellations?" asked Flower. "I don't."

"Nope!" Maika wasn't looking at Flower. She was busy admiring the sky. "Maybe I should've learned, though. 'Cause then I could point them all out and impress you."

"You don't need to impress me."

"Well, I still want to!"

"Good news. You impress me every day with how perfect you are."

"Ah!" Maika yelped and rolled over to lie against Flower. "Well, well, guess what? You're more beautiful than all the stars!"

It was a flattering compliment, especially considering how clear the glittering sky was tonight. Some stars were brighter than others. It would be cool to see some colored stars, like red or green or purple ones, but Flower couldn't see any tonight.

That was fine. They had plenty of other nights to see if they could spot cool stars like that. Even if she never did, Flower could never regret trying, as long as her treasured Maika was with her.


	15. Rainy Day

Maika thought it was incredibly romantic for it to be raining heavily against the windows when she and Flower both had the whole day off from any sort of work. She wasn't usually a late sleeper, but the sound of rain, combined with the softness of their bed and Flower sleeping peacefully against her, forced Maika to stay there and drown in her love.

"We can't stay cooped up in bed all day, though," she sighed quietly. "Hime and Mikoto are gonna want us to do things with them. Maybe we could watch a movie. I know we have lots of microwave popcorn."

Flower, of course, was too busy being asleep to hear any of this, but she smiled blissfully as she snuggled into Maika. Maika smiled back at her, and closed her eyes, feeling as if the rain outside was melting her into Flower's love for her.

"Maybe we'll watch a Studio Ghibli movie," Maika murmured. "And then maybe we can play a neat board game. There's a lot of ways to have fun on rainy days. And I'll be with you, which makes everything perfect."

She stopped talking for long enough for the rain to lull her back to sleep, and so the two of them lay there, their dreams full of soft, blissful love for each other.


	16. Superpowers

Maika was born with a rare ability, so rare that she had to keep it secret, lest she be captured and abused for its benefit. She was blessed with the power of being a Serene Siren. With the power of her singing, Maika could restore things that were clinging desperately to their lives, and she could undo devestating damage done to anything from plants to monuments. She took on the name Ona when she did these deeds, and was able to effortlessly disguise herself as a more average-looking girl. After all, no matter what name she used, the dynamic pink curls stemming from her white hair would be extremely recognizable.

Of course, as stunning and powerful as Ona was, she was still essentially a human being. Someone as heroic as her was easily targeted by selfish criminals who wished to use her voice for nefarious purposes. Ona was a defender, not a fighter. Against trouble like this, she could only flee, protect her body, and find proper authorities to stop them.

She should have known that wasn't a foolproof tactic. One night, Ona found herself cornered by three hooded figures, two of them with knives gleaming in the darkness, the other with a sinister grin.

"Now..." He chuckled. "Listen closely, Siren. You've got two options, and two options only. You can surrender, right here, right now, and keep your trap shut like a good girl so we can do this the easy way, or..."

Before he could elaborate further, an ear-piercing shriek forced all three of them to drop whatever weapons they had and clutch their skulls, muttering baffled curses under their breaths. Ona did not even flinch. She knew what this meant.

Another Siren was nearby.

Behind the attackers, Ona caught sight of a silhouette leaping down, presumably from one of the surrounding rooftops. They raised their head just as the attackers whirled around to stare.

"Good evening, gentlemen," the Siren greeted them. She stepped closer, and Ona saw the moonlight shed on her. She was striking. Feathery white hair with a black streak, cut short, but with long bangs falling around her lovely violet eyes. She could pull off being a traditional Siren from mythology with her beauty alone. She smiled at the three men, charming, but with an air of impending danger. "I just want to know...where do you plan on taking the lady?"

The man who had threatened Ona laughed, seemingly brushing off the call that had pained him so badly. "Two Sirens in one night, huh? Tell you what, little girl, why don't you--"

"Flower," the Siren interrupted. "Please, call me Flower. I have a better idea." She stepped even closer. "Why don't you get the fuck away from her before I crack open your skulls?"

Even from where she stood, Ona could tell that Flower was pretty small. Maybe about five feet tall. Naturally, the men laughed at her again, but they stopped the second Flower opened her mouth.

To people who weren't Sirens, the sound that Flower unleashed was deafening. Very loud, very high, very focused at the three attackers, clutching their ears again, this time falling to the ground and quietly begging for it to stop. To them, it was an unintelligible scream. But Ona, as a Siren, could listen to her words, just as Ona used words when she sang. But these words were not full of love or hope or gratitude. These were passionate lyrics of anger, threats, but also promises to defend and protect anyone from scum like these men.

Needless to say, the men fled the scene before even a minute had passed, leaving their weapons behind. Flower stopped singing, and smiled as she approached Ona.

"Thank you," Ona breathed, nearly collapsing from awe and relief.

Flower placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled, much more gently. "You're Maika, right?"

Ona cringed. There was no use lying, but...

"Don't worry. I know how it is." Flower released her. "Can I call you Maika?"

Maika nodded. "I...my Siren name is Ona."

"I see. I don't have a Siren name. I always go by Flower." Flower grasped her hand and took a tentative step. Maika accepted the silent invitation, and they walked out of the alley together.

"Flower..." Maika felt antsy using her real name. "Aren't you worried about people like...that...?"

"Not really. I don't get as much publicity as you. I only really use my power when I see situations like that one." She paused for a moment, very quietly sighing. "I can't heal and fix things like you do. I just hurt people. I might as well hurt the right ones."

Was that really true? "If you use it to protect people like you protected me," Maika pointed out, "that's doing more good than harm, isn't it?"

"I guess so. But that's not always what people need. I've always been kind of jealous of you."

"Huh?" Maika gasped. "Always? Have we met before?"

"No. But I've seen you around. You're not exactly hard to notice."

Maika briefly considered what she looked like as a civilian, and she did not argue.

"That's how I knew you were a Siren, too," Flower added. "I mean, I don't know about your exact powers, but I can sense it in people. And I noticed Ona and Maika have the exact same kind of aura."

"Oh..." Maika averted her eyes.

"That doesn't mean everyone else knows," Flower quickly reassured her. "You have a really good disguise. I wouldn't have ever noticed if I didn't have that power. Maybe I'll have to get you to make me a disguise sometime."

Maika suddenly realized she had no idea where Flower was leading her. "Eh, where are we going...?"

"Oh." Flower stopped, prompting Maika to do the same. "I'm just taking you to my house to make sure you're not too hurt anywhere. Is that--"

"Cool!" Maika smiled and nodded. She really liked Flower ready. If she didn't know any better, she'd even say she was enamored. "I know we kinda just met, but, eh, can I spend the night? Plus, it's good if people don't see me walking home like this, you know...?"

"Sure."

Maika barely knew this girl, so she didn't know why her heart was fluttering with utter admiration. Maybe it was just because Flower was her hero. Who knows what would have become of Ona if Flower hadn't stopped the crooks? In any case, Maika was suddenly looking forward to spending more and more time with this breathtaking angel of a Siren.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> flower and maika kin merli and aoki la[i am forcibly removed from the premises]


	17. Double Date

The way Maika saw it, the only thing better than an ice cream date was  _two_ ice cream dates, so today was absolutely perfect.

Well, technically, Maika was only partaking in one date, but since Gumi and Lily were also here, Maika got to witness a second ice cream date between one of her best friends and that friend's lover, so Maika really could not be much happier.

It was very casual. Maika liked Lily a lot. Lily was very friendly and easy to converse and joke around with. If it wasn't too forward, Maika would consider her to be a best friend already.

"What flavor is that?" Lily asked, pointing at the sundae in front of Maika.

Maika beamed. "It's birthday cake ice cream! It's my favorite!" She'd also gotten whipped cream, hot fudge, and rainbow sprinkles. It was colorful and perfect.

"Cool!" Lily smiled back at her. "I got peanut butter ice cream."

"Gross," Flower commented quietly.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Not my fault you don't have taste."

Maika was nervous for a second. Flower was Lily's girlfriend's ex, so she wasn't bitter toward Flower or anything, was she? But the worry disappeared when Lily laughed and said, "I'm kidding, I get it's not for everyone. What do you have, Flower, matcha?"

Flower nodded. "My favorite flavor is actually cookie dough. But I really like matcha too, and we have cookie dough ice cream at home, anyway."

Gumi's sundae had so much chocolate that Maika was afraid she'd get sick just from looking at it. There was hot fudge, bits of Oreo, and chocolate sprinkles decorating the chocolate ice cream underneath.

"Is chocolate your favorite flavor, Gumi?" Maika asked.

Gumi shook her head. "Actually, this is brownie batter ice cream! That's my favorite. I like chocolate, too. But I actually like vanilla more than chocolate when it's ice cream."

"I do, too," said Flower, scooping up some green ice cream and a bit of whipped cream with her spoon. "And I like Neapolitan. I like how flavors mix. I can't wait to kiss Maika and see how matcha mixes with birthday cake."

Maika immediately blushed and shouted, "Then  _don't!"_ before pulling Flower's face close and pressing her lips against hers.

"Oh, good idea," Lily observed before doing the same thing to Gumi, who had absolutely no objections.

Flower licked her lips when she parted. "It's interesting. Not bad. It helps that I was also tasting you."

Maika reacted by shoving a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth to cool herself down.

Gumi swallowed the ice cream in her mouth and made an offer. "Maika, you can try a bit of my ice cream, too, if you want. But don't kiss me for it or anything."

Lily smiled and squeezed Gumi's hand. "Only I can kiss her."

Maika giggled after swallowing. "Right! And only I can kiss Flower!"

Flower kissed her cheek quickly, leaving a trace of matcha ice cream from her lips. "I'm glad I got a good kisser."

"It helps when I'm so in love with you!"

Lily and Gumi didn't react to this because they were busy kissing each other again. That's just how they are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> figuring out what they have in japanese ice cream shops is more tedious than i can handle so please cut me a bit of toast here


	18. Holding Hands

Flower had cold hands.

Maika liked them a lot. No matter where they were or what the situation was, Maika could grasp Flower's hands and feel the serene chills fill her being. It was a reliable constant source of purity and wholesomeness, of security and reassurance, of gratitude and love.

Sometimes, Maika would stress over her concerts and other kinds of shows, to the point where she'd be stuck in an anxiety attack, with the walls of her own impending failures closing in on her and threatening to stop her breathing...but then Flower would be there to hold her hands and guide her through deep breathing, and calm her down and tell her everything would be okay.

Flower would sometimes grab Maika's hand very suddenly, as if urgently grabbing a lifeline from a boat. Maika would see the way her eyes lowered or the way her lip trembled, and she would know that Flower was clinging to Maika's warmth the way Maika would cling to Flower's chill. It was comforting in a way, to know that Flower trusted her enough to alert her when she needed comfort or reassurance or advice or just a hug. When she finally made Flower smile and feel okay again, she felt pride and love and happiness.

Whenever Flower and Maika went somewhere together, they would hold hands, not only so that they wouldn't lose that constant feeling of safety and comfort, but so they could show everyone how they always prevailed together, even from the darkest of times. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when i was in the middle of writing this it got erased and i had to start over so i'm sorry if it's tacky or anything >.<


	19. Spellbound

In her spare time, Flower enjoyed creating ice sculptures.

She would reserve some space for herself, and lower the temperature of her space so that it was almost subzero. Then, she'd generate beautiful ice, and shape it into whatever crossed her mind.

If enough time passed, Flower often found herself shaping very intricate structures, from life size statues to landscapes to palaces. It was easy, thanks to the advantage of having cryokinetic abilities. All Flower really needed was that and her creativity.

Today was nothing too special. She had a lot of space, but her ideas were not overly complicated. A long, thin rug of ice lowered to the center of the frozen floor. Following that, Flower created rows of identical and elegant ice chairs. Ice baskets with ice flowers hung from the ceiling. She created a piano as well, although she wasn't sure if it would be functional. That was fine. It looked beautiful.

Light drifted in through the windows, letting all the sculptures glisten, but thanks to the controlled temperature, there was no risk of melting.

Finally, Flower created an arch. Ice vines weaved around its shape, with tiny flowers scattered along. It was tall enough for both of them to stand beside.

This was when Maika entered. By now, Maika knew to warm herself up before doing this, and Flower knew to enchant the ice to keep it frozen. Maika could set fire to this room with her bare hands if she wanted to, and it would still be undisturbed.

"It's so, so beautiful, Flower!" she cheered, pausing to leave a warm kiss on Flower's cheek. "I wish I could've helped, but I can't really make sculptures out of fire..."

Flower hummed and glanced around the room. "Well...maybe you could make a fire heart above the arch, and I could encase it."

"Wow! Yeah! Let's try it!"

Maika cast her hands and brought a flame into the room, before directing it to form a symmetrical heart shape above the arch. Once it was complete, Flower cast her ice, and successfully froze the fire, its light faltering, but its form glistening through the ice shell.

"You're so smart, Flower!" Maika pulled Flower into a quick, tight hug. "I still feel like I'm not doing enough, though..."

"Don't worry." Flower smiled. "You still have the reception. There's lots of things you could do there, like fire tricks and fireworks, and we could do fire dancing together. Plus, you're the reason that all the guests can stay warm without ruining the ice."

"Ohh!" Maika gasped, then grinned. "You're right! I love you!"

"I love you, too."

Maika gently held Flower's hands. "How long does your enchantment last, again?"

"This one should last a while. It could probably be here for the whole week if no one undoes it. And you and I are the only ones that could, anyway." Flower kissed one of Maika's warm hands. "I love you. It'll be perfect. Our wedding will be like nothing anyone has ever seen."

Maika knew that for a fact. Not only was their combined magic able to craft something so extravagant and unforgettable, but it was something that only _their_ love could accomplish. And when they kissed at the altar, it would be a wonderful blend of fire and ice, showing everyone how right it was for them to be soulmates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> frozen 2


	20. Surprise Gift

Flower loved cats.

It wasn't something that would be apparent upon meeting her, or when seeing her DJ shows. She never incorporated cat motifs into things. She never went out of her way to interact with cats. She hardly ever even talked about cats if it wasn't relevant.

Maika noticed little things over time. Flower followed quite a few social media accounts for cats. She watched a lot of kitten videos in bed when she thought Maika was asleep. And when Hime demanded her to judge whether cats or dogs were better, sure enough, Flower answered in favor of cats without hesitation.

One day, they visited Luka, and learned that she had been taking care of her friend's cat while they were out of the country. It was a gray and white tabby named Savami. While Maika had a conversation with Luka, she noticed Flower quietly petting Savami as she purred in her lap, and Flower gazing down at her with a content smile. That was what led Maika to conclude that Flower was enamoured with cats.

Maika waited very patiently until Flower announced to her that she'd be out of town for a few days to work with a performer in the neighboring prefecture. Maika made the preparations in secret. While running errands alone, she sought out an animal shelter willing to let her adopt a cat. She knew Flower well enough by now to know which cat would make her the happiest.

It was a black cat, estimated by the shelter to be about three years old. She had yellow eyes that seemed to hardly ever open all the way; the people working at the shelter mentioned that she was often very sleepy. She had long fur that fluffed around her. It looked very soft and cuddly. This was a cat that would bond with Flower at her own pace, a cat that Flower would have nothing but patience and love for.

Once Flower was out of town, Maika returned to the shelter and prepared to take the cat home. She stocked up on food, treats, and toys before returning home and freeing the cat into her new home. Of course, they weren't alone together.

"A kitty! A kitty!" Hime squealed as they bounded over to the new cat. "I love it! Are we keeping it? What's its name?"

Mikoto followed in a much calmer manner. "Why did you bring a cat home?" they asked, as they gazed at the cat, clearly resisting the human urge to pet her.

"She's a surprise for Flower!" Maika announced. "Keep it a secret, okay? We're not naming her until Flower comes back home, because I want her to be able to name it."

"Okay!" Hime grinned, then gasped as the cat stood up and walked away from her.

The next few days consisted of Hime chasing the cat around until she conceded defeat and let herself be pet by the child, Mikoto feeling honored but trying to act unimpressed whenever the cat approached her with a purr, and Maika preparing to present the gift to Flower.

When Flower finally entered the house again, as Maika pulled her into a welcoming embrace, the cat meowed from down the hall, in their bedroom.

"What was that?" Flower's eyes very slightly widened.

Maika giggled and led Flower by the hand to the source of the noise. The black cat was sitting on their neatly made bed, swishing its tail as it gazed up at Flower, who gazed back in shock.

"She's been waiting for you!" Maika smiled and kissed Flower's cheek.

"I love her," Flower reacted.

"What are you going to name her?"

Flower sighed, revealing a smile of pure joy. They approached the bed together and sat beside the cat, who quickly stood and retreated to the pillows to sit in peace.

"I know it's not February," Flower said, "but I think her name should be Valentine."

"Valentine!" Maika repeated gleefully, then fell back into Flower's lap with a grin. "It's perfect! You're perfect! And I wanted to give you more happiness! So now you have Valentine!"

"I love you, Maika."

Maika had no time to repeat those words before Flower shifted her position and lowered her head to kiss Maika on the lips. Maika sat up and continued to leave her lips against Flower's, and paid no mind as Valentine approached and sat beside them.


	21. Dispute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: very very strong themes of suicide

If you can't make people happy, you aren't worth anything.

If you have to lie to yourself and try to justify your own existence, then you don't truly belong in this world.  
  
Maika knew this. She knew this held more truth than anything. When she performed, it was to make people happy. She loved making people happy, so she loved performing. But for the past month or so, she hadn't done anything. No shows, no concerts, no new music. She'd just been thinking about it.  
  
Thinking about if she had any worth at all beyond being a performer.  
  
What was she really good for? Did she make people happy, or had she just deluded herself into thinking that way so that she could easily soak up attention? Did she make Flower happy, or had she just deluded herself into thinking that way so that she could greedily take her love without any guilt? Whenever someone grew to be so needy and manipulative, they would eventually realize the error of their ways, and their illusion of worthiness would shatter. Maika was only human. She was no exception.  
  
It was too late to fix anything now. She'd spent too long coming to this realization, and she'd spent too much time being a useless brat, too lazy and too horrible to do anything useful, too reluctant to be a mature adult, too manipulative and evil to cope with her own problems. It was too late to try to cling to the comfort of carefree life that she'd been desperately holding on to as it was slowly being torn to shreds.  
  
Everything about Maika told her that she had no good reason to keep living. Any reason she could come up with was selfish-- _because Flower loves me, because I love Flower, because I want to watch Hime and Mikoto grow up, because I want to keep performing eventually, because I love Flower._ No proof that she was any good for this world, only proof that she was a waste of life and she had to be thrown away.  
  
She arrived at the train station at one in the morning, when it was vacant of bystanders. No one to watch her walk toward the tracks. No one to watch as she sat on the ground, feeling the rough, worn rails against her legs, and waited.  
  
The next train would arrive in about twenty minutes. Enough time to think about what would come next.  
  
_Would I be reborn? I don't think I would have my memories, so I guess that doesn't matter. It doesn't really matter what happens, does it? I won't be here. I don't need to care about it. I know Flower and Hime and Mikoto and Luka and Gumi and Lily all might be sad for a while. But maybe they'll realize I was supposed to do this anyway. I don't think my parents would find out for a while. They'd be disappointed about me throwing my success away, I think._  
  
Maika knew she was crying. She ignored it. This was what she deserved. Ultimately, this is what would make everyone happy.

But Maika had also forgotten how ignorant she was. Before she could properly register the sudden movement, her body was quickly pinned against the dirt beside the train tracks. She looked up at her intruder through blurring tears, and recognized Flower staring back down at her.

Of course, Flower would have noticed she'd left. She would have followed her and tried to stop this. Flower had too much empathy to wait and watch her girlfriend get hit by a train.

Maika tried to smile. "Flower, I really think you should--"

"Shut up, Maika."

Maika couldn't react. The words that escaped Flower's lips were laced with a fury that she could hardly recognize, something she never thought she'd hear.

"What kind of fucking person do you think I am?" Flower asked, narrowing her icy glare. "What could I have ever done to make you think I would let you get yourself killed because you can't see any way out other than running away? Do you think it doesn't matter that you're leaving everything behind, just because you won't be here to watch people cry for you and beg for it to be a dream and follow your footsteps by throwing themselves straight into Hell?"

Maika swallowed her shock, so that she could speak with a tremble. "It wouldn't be like that. People would be sad for a while, but they'd move on. It would only be for a little bit. If I don't die now, then I'll live for long enough to hurt so many more people."

 _"Maika!"_  Flower gritted her teeth. "Every day, every  _fucking day..._ you make so many people smile and laugh and you give them reasons to be happy and reasons to live, you're the most selfless and pure-hearted person I've ever met...you're the one fucking person that makes me treasure life every day...but then you're so scared of even making anyone sad at all that you bottle all this up and then you go sit on the train tracks, because you won't let me return the favor! Why, Maika?  _Why do you have to do that?"_ Maika saw she was crying, her voice rising into a quaking shriek. _"Why can't you let people help you? Why do you have to be selfish?_   _Why can't you try to see your own fucking worth!?"_

Flower's arms gave way, and she fell into Maika's chest, having nothing left but shuddering breaths and a weak embrace. Maika had nothing to say, either. She knew this was all her fault, and she had no way to make it better, and that was her own fault, too.

"I'm scared of this," she whispered, closing her dampened eyes. "I'm scared of hurting people like this. And no matter what I do, it'll make everything worse."

"No, Maika...it's okay. Please, just come home with me..."

"You shouldn't have to forgive me for hurting you."

"You're not. You're only hurting yourself. And if I helped you, it wouldn't hurt me. It'd make me happy to return the favor. Just talk to me about everything. I won't yell at you again. I'm sorry. I was scared."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Flower. I love you."

They sat up, and Maika forced out all her worries. Flower listened patiently, and didn't seem to be upset by anything Maika had to say. She would simply nod, and give her reassuring gestures, like grasping her hand and smiling. She told Maika things she never knew she needed to hear. She even managed to make Maika laugh eventually, and Maika ended up feeling better and happier and more grateful than she remembered having felt in a long time.

The train passed by, and they stood up together, ready to return home and sleep in each other's arms, ready to dream of their future and the things they never wanted to give up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy 3 year anniversary to ghost's really edgy song that isn't good but i like it anyway bc the instrumentation is nice and i have maika bias


	22. Angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: strong themes + discussions of rape, attempted murder, lesbophobia, ableism, and self-harm

Luka had invited Maika and Flower over with the promise of a movie marathon, complete with popcorn. Maika seemed a little surprised. "I thought you didn't like doing this kind of thing, Luka!"

"It's not that I don't like it," Luka replied, as she prepared the first DVD. "I just don't really have much time for it. But I just got all these movies I've never seen before. I think it'd be fun to share these discoveries."

"Cool!" Maika hugged Flower, which was apparently just one of the excited instincts. "It's like we're movie explorers!"

The first couple movies played all the way through without much issue. One was decently funny, the other was boring and by the end of it Maika was just dubbing over it with stupid jokes that made Flower and Luka laugh. The next movie seemed to be a horror movie, so Flower was particularly interested in the events, and the adrenaline building up with every sound and every second of suspense, leading up to every line of striking dialogue.

"Shut your fucking mouth."  
  
Flower couldn't make out their faces, only their venomous voices echoing through her skull. The calloused hand that was clamped over her mouth was reeking with the same taste that Flower had tried to spit out. It was so rotten. Flower wanted to vomit, but she already felt so filthy and disgusting, so she tried to swallow whatever came up.  
  
More hands. They felt even colder than the wind that was attacking her stripped-down body. On her chest, on her legs, on her...  
  
Static, static, _"are you listening to me, you pathetic good-for-nothing bitch?"_ No, she couldn't. Something gleamed in the blurred darkness. "Stop screaming," stop it, "stop fucking screaming," stop it, stop it, _why, why, why?_ She'd ask, but she could only taste that poison.  
  
If only, stop it, she hadn't...what? What had she done?  
  
Stop it.  
  
_Who are they?_  
  
STOP IT.  
  
in and out and stop it and in and out why is it going in and out and in and out why is the gleam so bright stop it can't hear you stop it pulsing and grabbing and stop it and groping and throbbing and stop it and squeezing and hot hot breath tickling the icy sweat stop it what day is it stop it wake up stop it please please please stop it why why please why stop no no no stop it stop it sharp bleeding stop it why why why why how many why stop it please stop it how much longer stop it hopeless alone abandoned left for dead rotting prey broken glass broken body broken mind broken memory broken broken stop it broken why stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it _stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it **stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT  S T O P  I T**_  
  
"Flower...it's okay, it's okay. We were watching a movie with Luka and she turned it off. It's okay, Flower. I love you."  
  
A ringing in her ears. She closed her eyes tightly, but it was no use. It was imprinted.  
  
"Can I touch you, Flower?"  
  
Who? Who? Say yes, get hurt. Say no, get hurt. Stop it.  
  
"Do you remember me, Flower? I love you."  
  
Biting her lip, the hand was gone, the taste still filled her mouth, burning against her dry throat, "Stop it."  
  
"No one is going to hurt you now, Flower."  
  
"Flower." How many? How many? "Shh, it's alright, Flower. You're safe. We're at my house, Flower. With Maika. Have some water. Can you feel it?"  
  
Cold, a hand--smoother, gentler, only brushed against her chin. Flower didn't dare move away.  
  
"It's okay. It's me, it's Luka. Please drink some water."  
  
Luka, water...it streamed slowly through her lips, rinsing away that taste. She swallowed. It still burned, a little bit.  
  
"Would you like to hold hands with Maika?"  
  
"Hands..." A shaky murmur, maybe just a thought. So many, touching her everywhere, but Maika was soft. She nodded. It was so light and gentle and warm and precious. The bitter wind fell away and left only safe warmth, and fingers very gently running through her hair.  
  
"Can you hear me, Flower?"  
  
Flower nodded, despite how stiff it seemed to feel, despite how dizzying this refuge was. "I...I don't remember..." Somehow, the knife was still at her throat, cutting up her words as they shakily spilled through. "Where are we, Maika...?"  
  
"We're at Luka's house. And Luka is here, too."

Flower nodded. It was the horror movie. She saw the beginning of a rape scene. That was all it took, apparently.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." Luka was very calm. She knew exactly what happened, after all. "I should have made sure none of these movies had scenes like that. I'm sorry, Flower. Do you want to keep watching movies? If you do, I'll make sure the next one has nothing like that."

Flower was mostly grounded, but it still felt dangerous to keep watching these movies. And, she realized, Maika would be too worried to enjoy herself. Flower had never told her about this. All she'd said is that she had PTSD. She didn't think she would be able to recount the entire story.

However, she _had_ told Luka. She'd told her a long time ago, when she needed to vent about it. Luka undoubtedly remembered what Flower had told her.

"Could I..." Flower sat up, trying to keep herself steady, and looked at Luka. "Could I go to your room for a while?"

Luka smiled, very tender as always. "Of course. Do you need anything else? I'll give you some more water to take with you."

"Yes, please." Flower tried to smile back, but she knew it was forced, so she didn't know if she was being properly grateful. "And..." She leaned in to speak softly. "Can you tell Maika about everything? About my...?"

Luka nodded, and took a few minutes to fetch a water bottle for Flower and then walk her to her bedroom. Maika waited on the couch, resisting the urge to bite her nails out of nervousness until Luka returned with a solemn expression. She sat beside Maika and placed her hand over hers. "Do you know about Flower's PTSD?"

"I know she has it," Maika answered quietly. "I don't know why, because it's rude to ask."

"I see. She asked me to tell you about the reason. Is that okay? Do you have any triggers?"

"No." Maika quickly added, "I mean, I have no triggers. I'm okay with you telling me."

"Alright." Luka folded her hands together. "Then just listen. This is everything she told me."

* * *

Flower didn't have bad parents, but she didn't think she had very good parents, either. They took care of her to make sure she grew up healthy, but they were not very empathetic. To make matters worse, Flower was autistic, and was not diagnosed until she was in middle school. Between her negligent parents and the less welcoming area she lived in, Flower struggled with a lot of internalized ableism.

Flower was bullied from a young age because of this, and as a result of no one intervening and of the lack of information about her autism, Flower eventually took to self harm to cope. At one point she'd cut up her arm so severely that she had to be sent to the hospital. This, at least, made her parents more aware of her struggles, and they became more involved in making sure Flower wasn't hurt. This was when Flower was finally determined to have autism. Of course, knowing this did not stop the bullying. After being outed as a lesbian along with this, matters only got worse.

When she was a first-year in high school, she was stopped on a walk outside at night, and she was gang raped.

Her attackers shouted vicious things at her. Flower had little memory of all of their exact words, but she knew they were motivated by ableism and lesbophobia. They also had knives, and threatened to kill her. They called her slurs, and things like worthless and degenerate. They were very close to permanently injuring her at best, and killing her at worst; Flower definitely remembered one of her attackers holding a knife to her throat. She apparently lost consciousness eventually, and was taken to a hospital. She was told that she was very lucky, and someone happened to witness part of the assault and alert the authorities.

The hospital was where she met Hime and Mikoto, orphaned twins who were recovering from their injuries from a house fire. Spending time with them helped Flower in recovering from her trauma, but she was still unable to continue high school, so she dropped out.

Five years later, she was able to function, able to care for her adoptive siblings, maintain her friendships, build up her career in music, and be with Maika. Of course, there were still times like this that would cause a relapse, but at this point, Flower was able to reach out and come out of it much more quickly. Even if it took a few days, she had her friends to protect her, and of course, she had Maika.

* * *

Flower didn't expect Maika to act like everything was normal. She kind of hoped for it, but of course, there was no stopping Maika's forced cheeriness, and as much as Flower hated to say it, she didn't have the energy for more movies.

"It's fine," Luka immediately told her. "I have far too many DVDs to watch in one day, anyway. If you're free, we can do this again on Saturday."

"We're both free," Flower replied. "It's fun. To watch movies like this, I mean."

Maika didn't say anything. She stared at the floor, fidgeting with her hair.

"Maika." Flower placed a hand up on her shoulder to get her attention. "Do you want to go out for ice cream?"

Maika's eyes lit up with pink sunshine, and her relieved smile, her real smile, was already enough to dissipate most of Flower's poisoned thoughts. "We should! I love you!"

They said goodbye to Luka, and with that, they could keep going, and it would be a normal day in Flower's safe, happy life with her love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry these have been kinda lackluster i've been in. too many weird moods. hashtag menstruation


	23. Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: discussion + themes of sexual harassment and mention/implications of rape

The train ride was eerie.

They'd traveled farther than usual on typical show business, so Maika and Flower had ended up on a very empty train back to their city, which would take several hours. It wasn't long enough to take an overnight train, but it was long enough for Flower to doze off and let her head rest on Maika's lap.

Maika didn't dare move, lest she let Flower's head fall and collide with the seat, or even the floor. Normally, this didn't matter. Maika was full of love whenever she saw Flower's angelic, sleeping face. But now, with Flower asleep, she was all alone in the train car with the man who had been watching them.

She tried not to meet his eyes, but Maika couldn't help glancing back and forth to see if he had stopped. It was too quiet. Maika couldn't just go on her phone to pass the time without feeling trapped in the lack of typical bustle on the train. She sighed, closed her eyes, and listened closely to Flower's deep breaths. That was something to cling to, but in moments the uneasiness began to grow stronger, as if something menacing was approaching her.

Maika opened her eyes. The man had walked right up to her. After the split second where their eyes met, he sat down next to Maika.

"Are you Maika?" he asked.

Maika smiled. Even if she wanted to, she was too recognizable to lie. "Yup! That's me!" She tried to be polite, but somehow something felt very wrong.

The man nodded. "I see. I'm a big fan of your music, Maika. Thank you for letting me talk to you."

"It's no problem!" Was that a lie? "I really like talking to my fans! But...I don't want to wake my girlfriend up."

"I see," the man said again, very quietly.

Maika looked away from him and back at Flower. She hadn't been disturbed. She looked as peaceful as ever. 

Maika briefly shared that peace before she felt rough fingers touch her hair. She flinched, her heart jumping up with her, and she turned her head to look at the man, who quickly retracted his hands.

"Please don't touch me," Maika said. Maybe that was rude, but she didn't have time to calm down and rephrase. In any case, the man nodded and looked away without a word.

A few minutes passed of Maika watching Flower, able to calm down by listening for her breaths. She was interrupted just after she closed her eyes.

His hand was on her shoulder.

Maika's instinct was to jump away, but then she'd wake up Flower and expose her to this uneasiness. It all canceled out, and so Maika was petrified while the hands went through her hair and inside her shirt as his side rubbed against hers.

She wanted to yell at him to please stop, but she was frozen. Her eyes were still glued on Flower's face in her lap. She wanted to wake her up, but even if she could move or speak, she didn't want to involve Flower and subject her to this terror. Especially when the fingers fumbled with the clasp of her bra.

The increasingly rough movements caused Maika's stunned body to rock enough for Flower to open her eyes.

Flower blinked a few times in bewilderment. She probably needed to take a few seconds to remember where she was. But after she sat up and her eyes locked on the man next to Maika, she didn't need any sort of explanation.

"Get...your hands...off my fucking wife."

The man, undoubtedly caught off-guard by the low growl, backed away quickly.

Flower glared right into his wide eyes. "Touch her again and I will crack your spine right down the middle. Got it, you sick, twisted bastard?"

Without an answer, the man fled into the next passenger car. Maika didn't think he was allowed in there, but she didn't worry about it now. She was focused on Flower. "Are you okay?"

"Why are you asking  _me?"_ Flower wrapped her arms around Maika and kissed her shoulder. "Did that piece of shit do anything to your clothes or anything?"

"He might have..." Maika felt a little shame saying this. She knew she could have stopped it herself. "He might've undid my bra."

Flower sat up and pulled the back of Maika's shirt away. "It...looks like he only got halfway through. Do you want me to fix it for you?"

"Yes, please."

Flower's fingers were much slower and gentle, much smoother and kinder, much more welcome and loving. They slipped back out of Maika's shirt and laced with Maika's own fingers. Maika realized her hands were trembling a little.

"No one deserves that sort of treatment," Flower said quietly. "Not even the people who do it. There's nothing to gain from it if you're not sick and perverted. And even then, I still don't understand..."

Maika knew that Flower had gone through so much worse. She was relieved that Flower could deal with that sort of thing well enough to at least protect Maika from being subjected to anything worse than unwelcome touching, but Maika also cursed herself for relying on Flower to be safe. And maybe, because of Maika, Flower's traumatic memories would resurface.

"Are you worried about me?" Flower asked.

Maika nodded, afraid to elaborate.

Flower smiled and squeezed Maika's hand. "I don't think you care about yourself enough. If you're safe, then I'm safe, okay?"

"Okay."

"Can you smile, please?"

Maika knew a forced smile would be no good. She thought of being home with Flower and her siblings. She thought of all the games they played and movies they watched and meals they ate. She thought of every one of Flower's words and of her beauty and of her serenity when their bodies were against each other, and by then, Maika was smiling.

And then she thought of something else, and kissed Flower on the lips. 

For the rest of the train ride, Maika and Flower were happy, in the safest place they could think of: in each other's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the way i'm not getting any more happy prompts til june 26. gumi's birthday. rights. (actually i guess june 25 could also be happy depending on how i like. Balance Things)


	24. Tragedy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: fire and death (no named characters die)

The thing about tragedies is that they seem to only be born out of happy times.

Flower was singing that day, on stage with Maika. It was a romantic duet, a song they'd written together. During an instrumental break, they closed in for a kiss, and the massive crowd cheered and waved their glowsticks wildly.

Just after they started singing again, the flames ignited.

Apparently, there was some faulty wiring with the special effects. The fire was small and only near the back of the stage, so Flower and Maika tried to keep singing despite their  clear uneasiness and the concerned gasps and murmurs from the crowd.

Of course, that wasn't the end of it. The fire soon lit up the stage and spread to the bottom.

Maika grabbed Flower's hand and shouted for everyone to find shelter. Flower was already on her phone calling for emergency help. They seemed to be trapped on the flaming stage, but Maika spotted an opening where the flames were low, and pointed. Flower nodded, and she and Maika ran and leaped over the flames, then fled the area.

If Maika had looked back, she would have seen that several people had not yet escaped, and the fire was trapping them and beginning to lick at their clothes. But she didn't look back. She didn't know until the next morning when she checked the regional news to see if there was any more information about the accident.

"Seventeen people burned to death," she said quietly to herself.

Flower didn't say anything in response. She wrapped her arms around Maika and pressed her lips into her shoulder.

Maika couldn't do anything until she had contacted the families and given condolences. She had enough in her bank account to pay for any necessary funeral costs. Most people were very kind to her, and refused to blame her for anything.

One person that she called was the opposite.

Maika couldn't blame this woman for being so enraged with her. Maika was the reason that she was widowed, after all. The best thing she could do was wait for her to stop screaming and calling her things like stupid and useless, and then ask, "What do you want me to do?"

The response was, "I want you to go to hell and rot in your own fucking incompetence."

It was loud enough for Flower to hear from across the room, and storm over to rip the phone out of Maika's hand and put it to her own ear.

"I'm sorry to interrupt." Flower's voice was full of tranquil fury. "Can I ask you to repeat what you just said to my girlfriend?"

The woman wasn't afraid to comply, but Maika spoke at the same time. "Stop, Flower. She didn't do anything wrong. She's grieving."

"Grieving doesn't mean you get to blame whoever you want for a fucking accident." Flower clenched her fist and spoke into ne phone. "Do you think she set our own stage on fire? While we were on it? Do you think she fucking wanted this? Do you think she wanted to be traumatized? You know she's still willing to pay you millions of yen to you because she believes all the bullshit you're spewing about her being incompetent? You can't live like this if you're going to lash out at people to solve your problems. You can call back when you get your fucking act together, okay?"

She hung up and embraced Maika.

"Flower, it is--"

"Please don't say it's your fault."

Maika nodded and closed her eyes. "I don't know if I can have concerts anymore."

"No one'll get mad at you for taking a break. And if they do, I'll beat them up. I don't think you know how important you are."

"I'm not any more important than the people who died."

Flower kissed her lips, only for a second. "To me, you are."

"Why?"

"You're the one who makes life worth living. I'm not the only one who thinks of you that way. Even when that life ends, you still made it so much better."

Maika didn't want to reply. She lay down on the bed with Flower, and Flower was willing to hold her as long as she needed to feel okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was going to make a joke like haha just like zombieland saga episode whatever but then i realized the plot is different enough for that joke to not work.
> 
> sorry if this isn't good i'm depression today


	25. Support

"I'm not hungry," Flower insisted. She was still in bed, though Maika had noticed she'd at least gotten up to go to the bathroom. That still wasn't good enough, though. Maika had a Bauru sandwich prepared for her, and she wanted to see Flower eat at least half of it.

Flower shook her head and held to the pillow tightly. "I don't want to eat anything. Go give it to Hime. They keep asking to try eating Brazilian food."

Maika sat on the bed beside Flower's legs to stare at her. "If you just take care of your basic needs, you'll feel at least a little better! Don't you want to at least try?"

"No. Don't you have better things to do, anyway? I can't just stop waking up, so the closest I can get is doing nothing at all."

"Why?" Maika narrowed her eyes. "There's plenty of things worth waking up for, isn't there?"

Flower hesitated. "Maybe...you are. But you shouldn't have to be the only reason."

"What about Hime and Mikoto?"

"Them too. They deserve better than that."

"What about...this?" Maika leaned in to kiss Flower's lips, then pulled away just as quickly. "And what about making music? And what about just eating a nice sandwich and taking a hot shower?"

"Maybe." Flower finally sat up and stretched her arms. "I'll...eat little bit, just for you. It does smell kind of good."

"Yay!"

With Maika smiling at her like that, Flower had the motivation to eat the whole Bauru. She felt a little ashamed, for using Maika again like that.

"If you're using me," said Maika, "then I must be using  _you_ all the time! So it's only fair, isn't it? There's nothing to feel bad about! I love you!"

And she was right, of course. Flower gave her a long kiss of gratitude before getting ready to take a shower.


	26. Finishing Each Other's Sentences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a weird prompt and i'm too emotionally distressed to write a proper chapter

"Maika," Flower called as she adjusted her collar. "Are you ready--"

"To go to Gumi's birthday party?" Maika finished, appearing from the bedroom with her brightly colored makeup and a vibrant outfit to match. "Yup!"

Flower shook her head. "Don't do that, it's weird."

"Sorry!" Maika giggled and sheepishly rubbed her neck. "I just wanted to see--"

"How that works?" Flower let out a short breath of laughter. "Yeah, no, this is weird. Let's get to Gumi's house."


	27. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i definitely uploaded this on june 27. yup. absolutely. nothing to suspect here folks. everything is in order. yes. definitely. no doubt about it.

Maika started giggling softly while Flower was quietly spooning her. "I just noticed...you used to not do that as much!"

"Do what?" Flower asked.

"You know, that thing where you're spooning me and you kinda bury your face in my hair? And then I feel you kiss my neck even though my hair's in the way! I like it!"

Flower resisted the instinct to squirm sheepishly, instead just letting herself blush. Maika wasn't looking at her face, anyway. "I've...always done things like that, I thought. On our first date, I gave you a lot of neck kisses when we were spooning. But now that you mention it, they were kinda small, so maybe you didn't notice."

"No, of course I did!" Maika happily sighed as Flower planted another kiss on her neck. "That was our fun little movie night, right?"

"Yes. Maybe I was paying too much attention to Coraline to give you good kisses. I have to pay more attention to movies where I have to read the subtitles."

"Hmm, maybe! But you still used to not give me as many kisses as you do now! At least, not neck kisses!"

Flower smiled and gently played with Maika's hair. "Maybe...we just have a stronger bond now. I've known that I was in love with you since about six months after we met, but since then I'm only more in love every day. And I think you got used to it."

"Used to what?"

"I mean, you're not on the verge of fainting every time I say romantic things."

Maika immediately blushed and bit her lip. "I'm sorry! I couldn't help it!"

"Don't be sorry. It was kind of flattering. And Mikoto liked to make fun of you for it, I don't know if you noticed."

"Oh, of  _course_ I did!" Any sort of shame Maika had grown instantly faded into her laughter. "Sometimes I sleep late like you do. I still wake up a little earlier than you, usually, so I don't know if you know this, but once they came in our room before I woke up, and they asked if I woke up and remembered you were my girlfriend and fainted, and if that's why I slept late!"

Flower laughed softly with her. "I do wake up before you, sometimes. I did last week. I just went back to sleep because I like sleeping next to you. How come you're always so warm?"

Maika giggled again and shrugged. "Maybe it's 'cause I was born in a hot place! And the rays of the Brazilian sun entered my bloodstream!"

"Sunlight doesn't do that. It only goes to your skin."

"Well, there you go! I've got sun skin! And I've got a sunny heart 'cause you brighten me up every day!"

Flower really wished she could properly show her gratitude for all these flattering sentiments that Maika gave her. Every time, all Flower could really do was smile and maybe laugh or let herself blush and say the same "thank you" or "I love you." But Maika always seemed to become even happier when Flower told her even those little things, so now, she did it again. And Maika wouldn't want her to express things like that any differently, because that was how much Maika had shown that she truly loved everything about Flower, as much as Flower loved everything about Maika.


	28. The Power of Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am straight up on the verge of just giving up on this challenge. can you tell.

"Whose bright damn idea was it to keep the caramel popcorn all the way back there?" Flower muttered. Of course, it probably just ended up at the top of the fridge against the wall by accident. In any case, Flower, being tiny, had no way of getting Maika's favorite snack, even when standing on a chair.

She walked shamefully back down to their bedroom, where Maika was waiting. "I can't reach it," she admitted. "It's too far. You'll have to get it."

Maika smiled and agreed. They went back to the kitchen together. Maika was half a foot taller than Flower, so it wouldn't have to be much of a problem for her.

This time, however, the bag of popcorn was so far back that Maika was just barely unable to touch it. "Wow! I think I need a chair to get this!"

Maika wasn't tall enough to reach the popcorn, but she wasn't short enough to stand on a chair without hitting her head on the ceiling, or having to crouch and thus still be unable to reach.

"I have an idea!" Maika clapped and spun to face Flower. "Maybe I can try to lift you up!"

"I don't think you could lift me higher than a chair would," Flower said. "We can try, though."

This meant Flower had to grab the top edge of the fridge as Maika clutched her legs and slowly lifted. Flower was able to bring her arms up and over the fridge, and finally, the popcorn was theirs.

Maika gently lowered Flower to the floor and cheered. "We did it! I love you!"

Flower kissed her cheek. "I love you too. You got your prize." She walked over the the cupboards for a bag of microwavable popcorn. "And I'm gonna have my own prize, too."


	29. "I Love You"s

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i kind of. accidentally did this one within one of the earlier prompts so i have to change it up a tad. i apologize

"I love you."

The first time Flower said it out loud, they'd only known each other for three months. Maika was spending the night at Flower's house to work on some songs together. Flower said it when Maika made a cute joke that probably wasn't very funny, but it was Maika, so Flower laughed anyway.

And now, Maika laughed too, and she was beginning to blush more than usual. "You're so nice to me! You're so wonderful!"

Maika didn't seem to have a problem with it. The way she always acted made it seem like she reciprocated, but now that she reacted this way, Flower knew that her suspicions weren't just rooted in being a desperate or predatory lesbian stereotype.

It was as simple as that. Flower didn't need to say anything else about it.

Maika fell asleep on Flower's couch while they were talking later in the night. Flower didn't try to wake her up. She knew Maika had a habit of overworking herself, and she needed all the rest she could get. Flower very carefully pulled her phone from her hands to set down on the end table, and draped a blanket over her.

Maika shifted a little, and murmured very sleepily, probably from her dream, "I love you..."

Flower smiled and wrapped herself up in another blanket, and whispered, "I love you, too."


	30. I Love You

There are lots of ways to say "I love you."

There are those words: "I love you." Flower and Maika both said it every day, when they ate together or worked together or cuddled or went to sleep. They said it when they professed for the first time, when they had their first kiss, when Flower told Maika about her younger siblings, when they made music together, and every time they rescued each other from somber times.

There were also the words they used to tell each other exactly what they loved. Maika was more used to verbal communication, so she was more often the one saying things like "I love your hair, I love your voice, I love your outfit, I love how chilly you feel when I touch you, I love you." Flower always thought that the things she said were weird and freaky, things like "I love how it feels to kiss your shoulder, I love that you laugh so much, I love your nose." Maika told her that this was perfect; it meant Flower noticed all the little things about her and loved all of it.

Flower was more used to touching. She was the one always giving impromptu massages and kissing all the parts of Maika's body. She always, always wanted to hold hands with Maika. Maika was the one always pulling Flower into a hug and kissing her head of fluffy white hair. Maika always wanted to snuggle, and they ended up doing so every time they lay down together or even just sat next to each other.

There were the things they gave each other. They both sometimes made their own songs specifically with the other in mind. They drew things for each other, and those drawings ended up hung on their bedroom wall. There was also the lovely black cat that Maika had adopted for Flower, and all the meals she cooked and perfected for Flower to feel happy and healthy. Flower liked to give Maika bouquets, and lots of little pretty things. She often bought things that she thought looked pretty to give to Maika, like neat stones or little figurines, and Maika had them all organized in a little display on an empty shelf of the bookshelf. She called it the "I Love My Girlfriend More Than Anything In The Universe Exhibit."

Just being with each other was often enough to feel in love. They reaffirmed their love by watching movies together, eating meals together, making music together, playing video games together, and sharing every bit of life's joys with each other. Whenever one of them had the chance to go to an amusement park or the beach or a carnival, she always made sure the other could come along if she wanted to. They were each other's future, and so it was essential for them to share experiences and build a happy path of memories.

And, of course, there were the times where they picked each other up. If Flower was having some sort of panic attack or flashback or relapse, Maika was there to keep her grounded, safe, and comfortable. If Maika was panicking or stuck in an anxiety attack or having any kind of breakdown, Flower was there to hold her and calm her. And every time, they were there to look in each other's eyes, even if it was through the blur of hot tears, and after all this time, they didn't need to speak a single word to say "I love you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *bows* gay rights


End file.
